Mafioso: Hiring Family

Nepotism is favoritism — plain and simple. It can mean giving your son a role in your family run operation or it can mean hiring your dim-witted brother-in-law to help him provide for your sister. Nepotism, then, is different than cronyism. Cronyism is that more lurid form of nepotism by which people move up the corporate ladder not because they earned it, but because they have connections in the right places. So, it’s good to remember that if you’re the CEO of a large company, hiring your nimrod nephew into a position of power isn’t going to play very well with those hard-working stiffs who do your grunt work every day.

If, on the other hand, you’re running a mom-and-pop shop, the whole point of your private enterprise is to bring the family on board. Remember, as an independent businessman, nepotism is the privilege you earn by calling the shots and paying the company bills. Having said that, relatives can be as thick as two-by-fours. Take my cousin Vinny, for example, whose only work experience before I hired him as a private contractor was the three-year stint he did as a pill-popping meat-headed bouncer. As cafones go, he’s definitely one of ‘em. However, what are you gonna do? Throw him a bone, then deal with the bullshit. Besides, if you’re building a family dynasty, you’re gonna be dealing with nepotism. Here’s how.

Don’t talk family

Before giving your cousin or brother-in-law a job, make it clear that it won’t be a walk in the park, step one of dealing with nepotism. If he thinks he’s getting a cushy deal where he doesn’t have to sweat in order to earn his daily bread, you’re bound to get a lazy worker or a troublemaker who thinks he has power. Remember that you engage in nepotism because you can profit from the loyalty of having a family member on board that you trust. Just make sure he knows who’s calling the shots.

The best way to ensure you don’t get a lazy worker or a manipulative power-monger is to leave the family at home. At work, you talk work. The family never enters the picture, even if you both understand that some decisions will impact family. It doesn’t matter. If you never allow family to muddy the waters, you’ll have no problem thinking strictly business when you’re faced with tough decisions. And you’ll have no problem firing your cousin if he can’t pull his own weight.

Start him low

Nobody, not even your firstborn son, is ready to step into an upper management role right off the bat. Now, perhaps that firstborn son has had some rigorous training in life or at university that has prepped him to bypass the lower levels of your company. However, generally speaking, every new hire, no matter how talented, needs to start low in order to learn about the company while earning the trust of his coworkers. This method of integration has the added benefit of humbling him by putting him through the gears a little bit. If he accepts his fate and stands up to the challenge, maybe then you can fast-track him into the position you’ve carved out for him. Just don’t start him in a position he’s not ready for because you’ll be letting nepotism get the better of you. As a guiding principle, remember that responsibility is a hell of a lot easier to add than it is to remove.